Celebrities have the right to use their platform to spread political beliefs

BY JULIA WENGIER

A number of people in this world have great influence on other people’s thoughts. Whether they choose to use this influence is up to them, but it is never wrong to do so. Celebrities typically have loud personalities and strong opinions, as well as millions of followers with whom to share them.

Celebrities are often ridiculed for sharing their political beliefs with the world, when it is often their responsibility to make certain ideas widespread. With a large nation like the United States, an efficient way to spread ideas to a numerous amount of people is via social media.

As respected figures, celebrities easily have thousands or millions of followers with whom they can share an idea instantly. As they have followers both on and off social media platforms, celebrities have an incredibly fast and efficient method of sharing things.

Recently, Fox News host Laura Ingraham said that pro-athletes, like professional basketball players, should “shut up and dribble” in response to complaints about President Donald J. Trump made by LeBron James and Kevin Durant (National Public Radio). Comments like these have been made about many other celebrities as well, comments that are not only offensive, but dangerous to the nation.

Comments like these have been made about many other celebrities as well, comments that are not only offensive, but dangerous to the nation.

A common argument made is that famous people usually make money from a talent of theirs, whether that is athletics, comedy, music or modeling. This means they are not paid to handle political affairs like politicians are. Claiming that celebrities shouldn’t have a say in government because they have different types of jobs than the average American is detrimental to society.

Everyone in America has the right to speak their mind, no matter what they are paid for. If citizens left politics to be decided by politicians, the government would crumble after making laws only for the benefit of politicians.

In rare cases, one little voice can stand out among others to make a change. For the remaining cases, someone respected and well-known must carry a group of like-minded people on the road to change. Everyone has the right to speak their mind and everyone has the responsibility to change the nation for the better, no matter what their occupation is.

Fortunately, James and Durant didn’t “shut up and dribble” as instructed by Ingraham. Instead, they used the controversy to spread their message of the dangers of having a president who doesn’t care about his citizens. The pro-athletes know their position in society and they know how many people of all ages look up to them. They know they can make a difference and they want to continue to use their platform as a way to spread awareness and make a change.

They know they can make a difference and they want to continue to use their platform as a way to spread awareness and make a change.

Some people have a way to reach out to millions of people at a time. It’s the responsibility of these people to inform and persuade members of the community to resolve a certain issue in the nation, so that real change can happen. No one’s voice should be silenced and everyone should feel a need to initiate change for a better America.

Photo courtesy of Hollywood Life